Chris Valadez

Breadcrumb

As Global VP of Instructional Services, Chris Valadez leads a team of instructional designers and web developers in the design and development of online courses. By consulting with Keypath university partner faculty across the globe to bring their brick-and-mortar courses to life online, Chris and her team bring a highly consultative approach to the process of re-envisioning content for online delivery, ensuring that courses are learner-centered, engaging, interactive, and meaningful.

“The quest to improve online education keeps me interested in higher education, and being able to share this passion with our faculty, people who will inspire generations to come, is a privilege.”

Chris Valadez, Global VP of Instructional Services

What do you bring to Keypath as Global Vice President of Instructional Services?

I am passionate about creating meaningful, quality courses because I know students are impacted by the work my team and I do. I often say to my team, “our job is too important to get wrong. We are impacting the lives of students who are or will be organizational business leaders, nurses, engineers and teachers … this world’s heart and soul.”

How do you measure your success?

For me, the measure of quality is whether or not I, myself, would want to take the courses I am producing. I feel it is critical to instill that passion and drive for quality in my team. Thankfully, I have found that enthusiasm and passion are contagious.

What’s your personal motto?

My aunt taught me that there are two keys to being a successful businesswoman:

Valuing the contributions of all members of the organization.

Approaching situations with enthusiasm and positivity.

These keys have been reinforced over and over again in my professional life. My most accomplished moments in business are those I have pursued proactively and with the help and trust of my colleagues. My worst failures resulted from facing challenges alone with negativity and frustration.

What excites you about higher education?

Course development in higher education is, by its very nature, a field ever in flux. As technology changes and students become more savvy online learners, the field pushes instructional designers and web developers to think more creatively, to design more efficiently, and to build with more sophistication. In five years, online courses will likely include more simulation and virtual reality, better ways for students to collaborate, and more effective ways to track student progress and outcomes. The quest to improve online education keeps me interested in higher education, and being able to share this passion with our faculty, people who will inspire generations to come, is a privilege.

If you found yourself stranded on a deserted island, what book would you wish you had?

If I were stranded on a desert island, I would wish I had brought with me The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. I am maximizing my opportunity with this classic. Shakespeare’s plays encapsulate the human experience through timeless themes. Friendship, racism, magic, honor, family, gender roles, war, politics, greed, jealousy, passion, love, death, humor … Shakespeare has it all! I could read plays like Othello over and over again, discovering new complexities every time. I could even find inspiration on how to survive the desert island by reading The Tempest – “Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises, Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.” This book truly provides endless hours of entertainment.